Accused Rapist Dominique Strauss-Kahn Settles With His Accuser

AFRICANGLOBE – When a settlement ended the last legal fallout from the sexual assault allegation that sank his political career,Dominique Strauss-Kahn kept his distance.

The former International Monetary Fund leader, once seen as a promising French presidential candidate, stayed in Paris and stayed mum as a New York judge announced the settlement Monday.

But his accuser, hotel housekeeper Nafissatou Diallo, spoke out publicly in one of few times she has done so. Standing outside the courthouse, she thanked God and “everyone who supported me all over the world.”

The lawsuit settlement — its details sealed — came after prosecutors dropped related criminal charges last year, saying Diallo had credibility problems. For her, the deal means she “can move on with her life,” said one of her lawyers, Kenneth Thompson.

For Dominique Strauss-Kahn, it closes another of a number of sexual allegations that have confronted him since Diallo told police in May 2011 that he’d attacked her. He is still fighting charges of aggravated pimping in France.

In a statement, Dominique Strauss-Kahn attorneys William Taylor III and Amit Mehta said the former diplomat was “pleased to have arrived at a resolution” of the New York suit.

Longtime Strauss-Kahn friend and political ally Michele Sabban, vice president of the regional government around Paris, said Tuesday he was “relieved” over the agreement.

“Ever since May 15, 2011, this has been something that has weighed very heavily,” said Sabban, who had a long-planned dinner Monday with Dominique Strauss-Kahn. “Now, he is turning to the future … the page has turned.”

Dominique Strauss-Kahn hadn’t spoken with her about the size of the settlement and “he isn’t supposed to,” she said by phone, citing the confidentiality of the negotiations.

Diallo, a 33-year-old housekeeper from Guinea, told police Dominique Strauss-Kahn forced her to perform oral sex, tried to rape her and tore a ligament in her shoulder after she arrived to clean his luxury hotel suite. The 63-year-old Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who has since separated from his wife, has said what happened was “a moral failing.”

The allegations spurred his arrest, forced him to resign his IMF post and cut off his potential candidacy for the French presidency.

The criminal case was dropped after prosecutors said they couldn’t trust Diallo. Among their concerns: She was inconsistent about her actions right after leaving Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s suite.

She said she always told the truth about Dominique Strauss-Kahn and would press her claims in the lawsuit. Dominique Strauss-Kahn called the suit defamatory and countersued for $1 million.

Bronx state Supreme Court Justice Douglas McKeon said he met Diallo earlier this year and talked with her about the prospect of settlement talks. A final deal was inked just Monday, McKeon said. In an interview with French radio, he suggested that both sides wanted the terms of the deal to remain confidential.

The judge said Diallo also settled a separate libel lawsuit against the Rupert Murdoch owned New York Post over a series of articles that claimed she was a prostitute; the details of that settlement also weren’t disclosed. A spokeswoman for the News Corp.-owned newspaper didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Other Rape Allegations Against Dominique Strauss-Kahn

After Diallo came forward, other allegations emerged about Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s behavior toward women. He had been known as a womanizer but largely viewed as debonair.

French judges are to decide by Dec. 19 whether to throw out the aggravated pimping charges, linked to a suspected prostitution ring run out of a luxury hotel in Lille. He acknowledges attending sex parties but says he didn’t know about any women getting paid to participate.

Another inquiry, centered on allegations of rape in a hotel in Washington, D.C., was dropped after French prosecutors said the accuser, an escort, changed her account to say she wasn’t forced to have sex.

French prosecutors also have looked into writer Tristane Banon’s allegations that Dominique Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her during a 2003 interview, a claim she made public after his New York arrest and he called imaginary and slanderous. Prosecutors said they believed the encounter qualified as a sexual assault, but the legal clock for pursuing her complaint had run out.

Usually the media does not name people who report being sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Diallo and Banon have done.

Several hours before the New York court date, Dominique Strauss-Kahn was seen in Paris leaving his new residence in the Left Bank neighborhood of Montparnasse. Asked by reporters whether he was relieved the New York end of his legal problems would soon be over, he declined to respond.

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